Friday, November 23, 2012

Ahn Cheol-soo, the anti-virus software entrepreneur-turned-professor-turned-non-politician, is rumored to be considering a run for president in 2017, according to sources. Recent surveys show that Ahn would hypothetically beat Park Geun-hye - the incumbent candidate who is expected to seek to stay in power whether or not the constitution allows her to - if he decided to stand.

Earlier this evening, Ahn withdrew from the 2012 campaign having campaigned on a platform of 'new politics' and then failed to come to an agreement with fellow left-wing candidate Moon Jae-in, despite weeks of meetings, which encompassed a huge number of issues including the type of surveys, pens and televisions that should be used in deciding which of them would be the unified candidate to stand against the right's Park Geun-hye.

Ahn, whose one clear campaign pledge was to refused to join any Moon government, said it was too early to decide on running for president in 2017, but that he would probably write a book about it before making a decision. It is not clear if Ahn's platform can still be one of 'new politics' in five year's time, or whether he will have to change it to 'old politics'.